ANNE HATHAWAY TO STAR IN ‘THE AMBASSADOR’S WIFE’ LIMITED TV SERIES

by Etan Vlessing - 8/18/2015 11:43am PDT

THE MARK GORDON COMPANY WILL FINANCE AND PRODUCE BASED ON A NOVEL ABOUT AN AMERICAN WOMAN KIDNAPPED IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

Oscar winner Anne Hathaway is to star in the limited TV series The Ambassador’s Wife from The Mark Gordon Company.

Hathaway will also produce the TV adaptation of Jennifer Steil‘s novel of the same name, with MGC financing and producing the project after optioning the book rights. The Doubleday novel was a prized literary property when the adaptation rights were recently shopped by CAA.

Inspired by her experiences as the wife of the British ambassador to Yemen, Steil’s novel portrays the kidnapping of an American woman in the Middle East and the heartbreaking choices she and her husband must make to possibly be reunited.

The Ambassador’s Wife is the first TV project from the indie studio formed by MGC and Entertainment One, which will distribute internationally. The L.A.-based studio is led by Mark Gordon, who will continue to produce content for The Mark Gordon Company as well as finance projects by other producers.

MGC is behind television hits Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds and Ray Donovan, and Gordon has helped produce box-office hits such as Speed, The Day After Tomorrow and Saving Private Ryan. “We are so fortunate to have Anne starring in this timely, gripping and compassionate drama. She is in a league all her own and we cannot think of anyone who can better portray Steil’s complex heroine,” Gordon said of Hathaway boarding the project.

The Ambassador’s Wife is represented by CAA for TV and Brettne Bloom at The Book Group for publishing. Hathaway is represented by CAA, Management 360, and Jason Sloane of Sloane Offer Weber Dern.